Smart is the latest addition to telecommunication companies partnering with common tower providers in an effort to ramp up network connectivity nationwide. The company has tapped Edotco Group Sdn. Bhd., ISOC Infrastructure, and Aboitiz (InfraCapital) Inc. These companies signed an agreement with Globe Telecom earlier as well.
Edotco and Isoc will be constructing 150 towers in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon. Meanwhile, Aboitiz will cover Visayas and Mindanao regions and now in the stage of negotiating the lease of build-to-suit sites, towers, and passive telecommunications Infrastructure and facilities.
Smart, and its parent company PLDT, cover over 90% of the country’s cities and municipalities with its 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) network, serving over 67.5 million customers. It has a massive P78.4 billion capital expenditures program. The facility is also expected to be a base for its 4G LTE network and soon to serve as 5G stations.
In June 2019, another company, Now Telecom, signed an agreement with ALT Global Solutions, Inc. to put up approximately 50 towers across the country.
The government ensures assistance to independent tower companies in the form of granting permits. These actions are all in line with its common tower initiative with an end goal of building 50,000 new common towers across the country in seven to ten years.
(Sources: BusinessWorld; Manila Bulletin; Back End News)
